Behind the Façades in France: What expats and the mainstream media (French and American alike) fail to notice (or fail to tell you) about French attitudes, principles, values, and official positions…

Friday, October 12, 2012

Blogging the VP Debate

From latest comment at top (right below this sentence) to earliest comment at bottom

• Going to bed — it's 5 AM here in Paris…

• Incredible — Biden "shouldn't laugh at Ryan's flim-flam" acknowledges
Andrew Sullivan (but only once, as far as I can see)
who goes on to claim that "this was a solid win for Biden" (?!)
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/10/live-blogging-the-biden-ryan-debate.html
and that "The star" of the debate was… Raddatz (!?)

• Nice touch: "We will not blame" the Obama administration the way
the Obama administration has been blaming the previous administration
(that of George W Bush) for four years

• "And I want to thank you, Joe" — priceless

• "you probably detected my frustration" (you don't say, Joe?!)

• Another silly (final) question

• Ryan: "that's what we get in this administration — speeches!" Not policies…

• Sarah Hoyt http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/153669/
"ED — AT ACE THEY SAY BOTH THE MODERATOR AND BIDEN ARE YELLING AT RYAN:
Is this working for ANYONE? Is it only to our partisan lens that this
sounds like bullying?" …

• What must Andrew Sullivan be thinking?!

• Treating war like a sports event.
Biden's "We will be out in 2014" = the game will be over
(and our team will have won) by 5 pm tonight

• Biden, again: "my friend"
I've seen this in France when leaders say "our American friends"
TRANSLATION:
"my friend" = "my clueless friend who isn't as wise as I am"
("our American friends" = "our clueless American friends who aren't as wise as we are")

• Instapundit http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/153665/ :
WHAT [Glenn Reynolds is] GETTING FROM ALL [his] FRIENDS: Biden is either acting like the
village idiot or a bar heckler. Is this playing well to anyone? And
the moderator… seems to be immoderately biased. …

• "no specifics" claims Martha Raddatz
— Democratic talking points

• I can't believe it — Ryan is speaking,
and noone is interrupting him

• The Martha Raddatz interruptions are even
more irritating than Joe Biden's — interrupting
Ryan much more often than the VP, if I'm not mistaken

• Biden won't let any opinion but his own to be mentioned
— a true liberal!
But:
Poor White House (sigh)

• Ryan: Quit interrupting!

• "Follow your instincts, folks"
I concur with VP Joseph Biden.

• Now it's Sarah Palin who is brought up
(head shaking in disbelief)

• Didn't anyone in the WH tell Biden to hold back on his laughter?!
And not show scorn for his opponent?!

• Biden: It's Bush's fault

• Biden is reminding me of my worst teachers, in both school and college,
who would ask students (his inferiors) to share, and would then mock
their sharing if they didn't agree with their own higher-than-thou opinions
— I mean, their divine knowledge